Surf board with an extensible keel member



p i 1952 D. M. STEELE 2,593,806

SURF BOARD WITH AN EXTENSIBLE KEEL MEMBER Filed May 7, 1949 5Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

Daiy M flieele ATTORNEY April 22, 1952 D. M. STEELE SURF BOARD WITH ANEXTENSIBLE KEEL MEMBER Filed May 7, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR! Daiy 51%ee 58 JZTTORNEV.

pr 1952 D. M. STEELE 2,593,306

SURF BOARD WITH AN EXTENSIBLE KEEL MEMBER Filed May 7, 1949 3Sheets-Sheet 5 IN V EN TOR.

DoZy M. )iieele Patented Apr. 22,. 1952 UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICESURF BOARD WITH AN EXTENSIBLE KEEL MEMBER Doty M. Steele, Los Angeles,Calif. Application May 7, 1949, Serial No. 91,957

6 Claims.

My invention relates to surf boards, particularly of the type powered byan internal combustion engine and the structure herein disclosed in animprovement on the Power Driven Surf Board forming the subject matter ofUnited States Letters Patent Number 2,451,781, issued to me, October 19,1948.

Among .the principal objects of my present invention are to provide asurf board hull of novel structure and which is divided by bulk headsinto air chambers, also wells or compartments for the extensible keelmember and the lower portion of the engine housing and propeller, toprovide improved means for mounting the engine so that it may swing on},horizontal axis and thereby elevate the lower portion of the drivingshaft and propeller so to avoid striking an object floating on thesurface of the water, or from making contact with the ground whenapproaching the shore, to provide the surf board with an extensible keelmember and means for raising and lowering same, so as to materiallyincrease the control of the board while it is inuse, to provide simpleand convenient means for the rider of the board to have greater controlof the driving motor and to provide automatically acting means forcutting off the supply of air to the carburetor of the motor in theevent that the board should capsize while in service.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists incertain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts whichwill be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig.1 is a vertical sectiontaken lengthwise through the center of myimproved surf board,

Fig. "2 is a plan view of the surf board with parts thereof broken awayand in horizontal section,

Fig.3:.i s a horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 andlooking into the well which accommodates the propeller, the propellershaft and its housing,

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view taken looking in the direction indicatedby arrow 5'in Fig.1 and showing certain of the engine controls,

Fig. 6 is a detail section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the line 'l-'I of Fig.8,

Fig. 8 is an elevational view partly in cross section, of theenginethrottle mechanism and the ignition control system,

Fig. 9 is a detail. section taken on theline 99 of Fig. 8,

Fig. 10 is a detail section of the automatic valve for controlling theinlet of air to the carburetor, 1

Fig. 11 is a section similar to Fig. 10 and showing the carburetor airinlet valve inverted and closed, 7 I

Fig. 12 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal section taken through therear portion of the hull of the surf board and showing the improvedextensible keel member, 7 Y

Fig. 13 is a horizontal section taken on the line l3,-l3 of Fig. 12,

Fig. 14 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the line l4l4 of Fig.12. i

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate apreferred embodiment of my invention, I0 designates the hull of the surfboard, same comprising a deck ll, side walls I2, rear end walls l3 andbottom l4 having an upwardly curved front end l5.

.Spaced parallel partitions l6 extend from front to rear of the hulladjacent the center thereof and transverse bulkheads ll disposed betweensides l2 and said. partitions, provide a series of air chambers l8. 7

Formed through the bulk heads I! are apertures 19 to enable air tocirculate through the chambers l8 which air is admitted through breatherpipes 20 which enter the forward pair of chambers 18 as seen in Figs. 2andgl. Further, the apertures l9 permits any water that may'leak intochambers l8 to pass to the rear pair of chambers when the board is stooduprighton' its rear end, and discharge through apertures 2i in rear wall[3, which apertures are normally closed by corks 22. I

Equalizing the air pressure within chambers I8 with the atmosphere,prevents partial vacuum from being developed within the chambers andwhich condition might draw water through any minute apertures or crackswhich may occur in that portion of the surf board'below the surface ofthe water. I

The chambers IS on one side of the hull are entirely separate from thoseon the other side and thus, if one side or corner of the hull is damagedto such a degree as to leak water, the other side or sections remainswater tight and thereby provides sufficient buoyancy to preventsinking'of the surf board and its engine.

On deck I I near the corners thereof are blocks 23 to which are attachedrings or loops 24 of rope or cable which serve as handles for ridersgetting on or off the surf board or for shifti'ngthe position thereof,while near a dock, float or other landing place.

In the forward portion of the space between partitions IS, a transversewall and a curved portion 26 of bottom l4 provide between them, a wellor pocket 21, adapted to receive the lower portion of the propellershaft, its housing 28 and the propeller 29 when the engine 30 swingsfrom its normal upright position forwardly as shown by dotted lines Fig.1, thus protecting said shaft, housing and propeller from being damagedas a result of striking a floating object, or the ground adjacent ashore landing.

Engine 30 is arranged to swing in horizontal bearings 3|, on brackets 32and the latter being detachably clamped on the upper end of transversewall 25.

The opening into well 21 through deck H to the sides of and rearwardlyfrom housing 28,'is closed by a flexible flap 33, preferably rubber,which per- 'mits the housing to swing upward and this flap normallypreventing water from splashing upward through said well onto the deck.

To prevent Water from entering the air intake to the carburetor of theengine in the event that the board is overturned, a right angle fitting34 is fitted onto the air intake 35 (see Figs. 10 and 11) with aperforated open ended nipple 36 connected to the vertical leg 'of saidfitting.

A ball valve 3! is loosely retained in nipple 36 by a cross pin 38 andwhen the board is overturned, ball 3'! will by gravity move downward insaid nipple and rest on the seat formed by the end of fitting within thenipple (see Fig. 11)

Mounted on the upper portion of the motor housing 36 is a horizontallydisposed frame 39 held in position at the rear of said housing by across strap 40. This frame provides a ground for the electricalconnections associated with the motor and its ignition system. A plate4| on the rear left hand end of frame 39 carries the engine throttle andignition system control mechanism, same including a shaft 42 operatingin bearings 43 and said shaft being provided with a universal joint 44so as to permit its outer end portion '45 to move for a limited distancethrough a horizontal slot 46 in the outer one of the bearings 43. Theouter end member 41 of the universal joint 44 carries acontact stud 48adapted, when shaft member moves to one end of slot 46, to contact aground stud 49 thus providing an auxiliary -or added connection for themotor circuit when same is closed. u r

The outer end of shaft member 45 carries a cross arm 50 to the ends ofwhich are secured the ends of engine operation control cables 5|. Theinner end of shaft carries a disc 52 of insulation with a spiral spring52a arranged-between said disc and plate 4|, to yieldingly hold saiddisc and the shaft 42 in normal out-of-service positions and seated inthe periphery of said disc is a conductor plate 53, in the center ofwhich is a recess containing a blockof insulation 54. A brush contact 55is mounted upon and insulated from plate 4| with the free end of saidbrush in engagement with insulation block 54 when the circuit to theignition coil is open.

Conductors 56 and 5! connect contact plate 53 and brush 55 respectivelywith the ignition coil of the engine.

A flexible connection 58 is arranged between disc 52 and a crank arm 59carried by the engine throttle actuating shaft 60 (see Figs. 7 and 8). Acable 39a extends rearwardly from the rear right hand end of frame 39and is adapted to be grasped by the hand and thereby render more steady,the riders position while standing on the rear portion of the board.

Spaced side walls 6| in the rear central portion of hull ||l provide anarrow pocket 62, open at bottom and rear for the extensible keel member63 and for the operating wedge 64.

The extensible keel member is a substantially rectangular plate or panelpivoted near its front lower corner on 'a pin 55 seated in walls 6| andarrangedin the lower front end of pocket 62 is a block 6 having aninclined face 61 which acts as astop to limit the downward swingingmovement of said keel member.

Formed in the upper forward end of keel member 63 is a substantiallytriangular notch 68, having aninclined forward edge 69 with a smallnotch 10 at the rear upper end of said notch 68 and with a small notchII at the upper forward end of the inclined edge 69. Formed at the upperforward corner of wedge 54 is a rounded projection 64a of such size'asto occupy notch H in keel member 83. When the keel member is elevated,the rounded forward end 64a of the wedge member engages in notch 15,thereby practically locking the keel member against downward movementand when lowered the keel member is held in such position by theengagement of the lower rear end corner of wedge, in notch 15. Notch 68is slightly longer than wedge 54.

Secured to the ends of wedge 54 are the ends of a cable i2 which, at theends of pocket 62, pass upward through apertures 13 in deck H and theends of said cable above the'deck are secured to a block '14; arrangedfor sliding movement on top of the deck and adapted to be engaged by thesurf board riders foot and moved forwardly or rearwardly to move wedge64 and thereby swing keel member so as to raise or lower same. (See Fig.12.) To lower the keel member, block 14 is moved forwardly therebymoving Wedge 64 rearwardly so as to shift the rounded forward corner 54aof said wedge out of notch 7| and causing the rear end of the wedge toengage the rear edge of notch 68 with the rear upper corner of saidwedge bearing in notch 10 and thus swinging the keel member to itslowermost position as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 12.

The downward movement of the keel member is stopped by the engagement ofthe front edge thereof against inclined face 61 of block 66. A reverseor rearward movement of foot engaged block 74 reverses the actions justdescribed and raises the keel member into pocket 62. If desired a ridersseat 15 may be detachably mounted on the deck just in front of the keelmember actuating block 14.

The gas throttle of the engine that drives the propeller, as well as theignition coil are controlled by means of the cables 5|, which whenproperly manipulated, swing cross arm 59 to rock shaft 42 thus partiallyrotating disc 52 against the tension of spring 52 thereby actuating arm59 on throttle actuating shaft Eli and simultaneously energising theignition circuit through brush 55 and contact plate, with a secondarycircuit energisation effected through contacts 48 and 49.

Thus, it will be seen that I have provided an improved motor driven surfboard of simple, practical structure which includes an extensible keelmember with simple and eflicient operating means therefor and thedriving motor of the surf board being mounted so as to be readily swungupward into a pocket in the underside of the hull structure and saidmotor being provided with simple 8 and readily operable ignition andthrottle control means.

Minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts ofmy improved motor driven surf board may be made and substituted forthose herein shown and described without departing from the spirit of myinvention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a surf board, a hull, an extensible keel member pivotally mountedfor vertical swinging movement in the rear portion of said hulland asubstantially triangular member arranged forv sliding movement abovesaid extensible keel member and bearing upon the upper forward cornerthereof for raising and lowering same.

2. The surf board as set forth in claim 1, with pedally operated meansoperatively connected to said sliding member for actuation thereof.

3. In a surf board, a hull, an extensible keel member mounted forvertical swinging movement in the rear lower portion of said hull and awedge arranged for sliding movement above said keel member andoperatively associated therewith for raising and lowering same.

4. The surf board as set forth in claim 3, with member being provided inits upper forward corner with a substantially triangular notch and asubstantially wedge shaped member mounted for limited sliding movementin said notch for raising and lowering said extensible keel member.

DOTY M. STEELE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 72,058 Macfarlan Dec. 10, 1867284,130 Joyner Aug. 28, 1883 388,098 Wells Aug. 21, 1888 821,806Johnston May 29, 1906 969,128 Atteridge Aug. 30, 1910 1,694,790 NelsonDec. 11, 1928 1,824,887 Harvey Sept. 29, 1931 2,451,781 Steele Oct. 19,1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 753,711 France Aug. 12, 19332,845 Netherlands Jan. 15, 1919

